With the Chancellor’s Budget tomorrow and the Child Poverty Strategy to follow, this is a pivotal moment. A credible plan to cut child poverty must account for the challenges facing migrant families.

Every child in the UK deserves a fair start in life, regardless of where their parents were born.

The number of children in poverty within migrant families is not a set of isolated cases, but a result of how welfare, immigration and asylum systems interact.

This is a crisis hidden in plain sight. Behind these numbers are families working, contributing and raising children who call Britain home.

The PM says “social confidence” depends on an asylum system that is fair, effective and humane. That can’t be achieved if the debate is shaped through blame, suspicion and dehumanising language. Real confidence requires evidence-based policy and communication based on accuracy, dignity and respect.

At IPPR, our work on asylum accommodation, destitution and the hostile environment shows the system is not easy to navigate, nor is it consistently fair or effective. Asylum decision-making has not been fast enough, frequent enough, or of sufficient quality - not because people are exploiting it.

This framing reinforces harmful narratives and disproportionately impacts racialised and marginalised communities, including those already navigating the immigration system. It suggests that people seeking sanctuary are trying to “work against” the system, a claim not supported by evidence.

…picking back up with some news from this week 👇

The Home Affairs Select Committee has just published its report on asylum accommodation – and I’m pleased to see many of IPPR’s recommendations reflected in it.

3️⃣The government must also take steps to ensure that providers of family services are better equipped to help migrant families understand and take up the entitlements they are eligible for.

Read the full report: www.praxis.org.uk/news/report-...

The govt's child poverty strategy must support all children, regardless of immigration status:
✅ Remove NRPF for families after 5 years of residence
✅ Statutory guidance for councils to support families in crisis
✅ Extend childcare to working parents with NRPF

The @IPPR report🔗 tinyurl.com/yrbjptmb

📢Parents shared the reality of raising children under these conditions:

"I can’t buy clothes for my children, shoes, or even snacks" – Hafsa, a skilled worker visa holder

"I've dealt with immigration for 24 years and have yet to rest or feel at ease" – Sharon, a mother married to a British citizen

Families face legal, institutional & social barriers:
⚠️ NRPF restrictions lock families out of essential support like Child Benefit
⚠️ Extortionate visa fees force parents to pay thousands to stay in the UK
⚠️ Discrimination & language barriers limit work opportunities & make accessing support harder

Over a third of children in poverty in the UK are from migrant families:
📍 1.5 million children in poverty have parents born outside the UK
📍 1 in 5 of these children live in very deep poverty
📍 Many go without proper food, school trips, hobbies, or even a bedroom of their own